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The Beginning and the End

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Guest Polaroid Stalker

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The Poloroid Stalker probably was a member of the Group and probably joined up with "Evil", just like how they asked Frank to join.:ouroborous:

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On the issue of old threads folks. It is wonderful that people resurrect older threads for a variety of reasons. I do it all the time myself. It brings a past discussion to the eyes of newer members and even we older members forget some of the superb thoughts that others have shared over the years. Think of it like a book. We wouldn't decline to read a book simply because it was written a long time ago nor should we worry about sharing our thoughts on topics that began some time ago. Newer members can always bring a completely new perspective to an already engaging discussion. Of course it also saves forum space and we're all for that when all is said and done. So bump away folks, we're happy to see the old ones back.

I do agree that The Polaroid Stalker's comments to Catherine are fairly strong indicators of his involvement in The Millennium Group. In his first meeting with her he states the following...

POLAROID MAN: But I'm willing to let you keep the evidence, in exchange for a small donation to the Church of Millennial Consciousness.

CATHERINE: I'm just waiting for my husband to help me with the luggage.

POLAROID MAN: Ah, but you see, our church is not content to wait. We're actively spreading enlightenment and education about the glorious harmonic convergence that will dawn at the stroke of midnight in the year 2001.

Which with its 'our' and 'we're' seems like he was once involved in the group. He again uses 'we' when talking to the cop.

POLAROID MAN: Oh, man. You should hear about this. This is important.

COP: Why's that?

POLAROID MAN: Oh, its scientific name is P1997-Vanson-West. We discovered it about six months ago, but it's always been there. Always.

They 'why toy with Frank' comment is a worthy question. I'm not sure I have an answer to be honest. It does appear that he singles Frank out precisely because of his involvement with The Millennium Group. It could be, as you assert, that he was once the next best thing who was ultimately cast by the wayside in favour of Frank when he became dangerously unstable. I guess it's something we will never know. All that Peter states in the subject is that.

WATTS: Frank, you're a good man, and you're an exceptional candidate, but the Millennium Group is involved in an unprecedented arena and we're gonna make mistakes for which we will not apologize. However, the Group feels you should know that his interest in you is because of our interest in you. That's all I can tell you right now.

Eth

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It's pretty clear that The Polaroid Man is warning Frank and Catherine about the group, but there must be better ways than to kidnap his wife, making her believe that he took their child as well. I never thought of that, that The Polaroid Man could be an ex-Group member. But in the file Frank got from Watts, we only see that The Polaroid Man was in the army. Never a cop...I'm sure of it. Unless the Millennium Group removed some revealing information about him from the file.

I have a love-hate relationship with this episode, it's an odd creature. It's so straight-forward yet there are all these connections to future-and past episodes of Millennium.

In Pilot, Frank tells Bletch about his "gift". That he sees what the killer sees. He becomes the horror, becomes capability. What we know we can only become in our heart of darkness. So, from that description, he becomes as "evil" as the men he's trying to catch. He's walking the thin white line of letting the devil get the best of him. Catherine believes in the goodness of Frank. She can't imagine Frank killing another human being, let alone her or Jordan.

The first stab was self-defense, the others, pure and simple, murder in the first degree. I don't have a problem with the ending, that they separate. Catherine saw a different Frank for a split second and it wasn't pretty.

"You can't stop it." The killing instinct? Rage? Blood-lust?

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A lot of people tend to think that even the hardest of criminals can be cured and that there is a sliver of goodness in them. Unfortunately, people don't realize that even the best people have the capability of becoming our worst nightmares.

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I never thought of that, that The Polaroid Man could be an ex-Group member. But in the file Frank got from Watts, we only see that The Polaroid Man was in the army. Never a cop...I'm sure of it. Unless the Millennium Group removed some revealing information about him from the file.

Well Lara Means was not a cop either, nor was Cheryl Andrews and I'm fairly sure no one ever put Roedecker on the streets with a loaded weapon. Evidently The Group recruited from a wide circle of expertise and not simply from Law Enforcement. I have to say I really like your take on the episode. I completely agree with you in that it depicted the moment that Catherine realised Frank could become the very thing he fought so hard protect her from. It certainly ties in with what I have always believed that Legion fought so hard for Frank's soul because the evidently believed they had a chance of taking it. That's not to say he wasn't a good man, he was, but his ability to become the horror leaves him open to their influence. I always believed that the more he used his ability to become that horror the more it left an indelible mark on his soul/psyche. Catherine is given a wake up call which shows just how close her husband is, at that point, to going all the way and she decides to attempt to reign in him a little for his own sake as much as hers.

Eth

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I understand that, Lara Means has a gift and is also some sort of social worker (I remember she mentioned it in 19:19 but don't remember what it was) and Cheryl Andrews is of course a doctor. Roedecker is a computer whiz. Jim (James) Horn was a private detective, when he was a candidate for the Group. But what was The Polaroid Man's ability or job that made him desirable to the Group?

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  • 2 months later...
Guest arcanamundi

What struck me about this episode seeing it again after so long was the stress on the theme of sacrifice.

Frank asks himself, and Peter Watts, what he has to sacrifice to get his wife back safely. Peter then tells Frank

the 'why I have three daughters' story, and concludes that he's not sure one can sacrifice one thing to get another.

The Polaroid Man talks to Catherine about Frank giving his life for her, but asks her (rhetorically) if Frank would give it for God.

He says that he himself was asked to do just that by the Group, but he wouldn't. He seems bitterly disillusioned by the Group.

I like somebody's speculation that he is bitter about being once favored by the Group but cast aside when he went insane.

Then at the end, when in the bedroom, while they are preparing to go their separate ways, Catherine is trying to explain

to Frank what she is feeling, why she must put some distance between them. Many of the previous posts have noted quite

rightly some possible reasons. But I was struck by what she said that I hadn't appreciated before: that she felt he sacrificed

something in the act of killing the PS. As Pibbsneaker observed in an earlier post, Frank in a sense gave up his family life

to pursue the Group's objectives, to battle against Evil. But is this what Catherine meant? Or was she implying that somehow

Frank sacrificed a bit of his humanity, of his soul, when he unleashed his murderous rage to extinguish the threat to his family?

I remember being both enthralled and bothered by this episode when I first watched it. Doug Hutchinson was outstanding,

but it was Catherine's response at the end that troubled me, as indeed I believe it was intended to. But in reviewing this episode

it still seems fresh and even more brilliant, knowing what's to come!

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Season 2 sets up a lot of tension that is seen and felt throughout the season. It's a slightly different flavor of dark then season one, or at least with other elements added. I would have to say "yes" to both of your questions instead is using the "or" option. Did he go too far? The gray area is in the eye of the beholder! Frank is reminded of his actions several times, by the group in a somewhat contradictory manner, but also by Tamara bluntly in Siren. Catherine is also reminded in Anamnesis by Clare. I go back and forth on this one myself. I like the added intensity it adds to the show, but Catherine does present it in such a way that almost makes Frank himself out to be the killer of the week.

I'm guessing that M & W wrote it that way they did so we would still be chewing on it ten plus years later!

:rock2:

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I understand that, Lara Means has a gift and is also some sort of social worker (I remember she mentioned it in 19:19 but don't remember what it was) and Cheryl Andrews is of course a doctor. Roedecker is a computer whiz. Jim (James) Horn was a private detective, when he was a candidate for the Group. But what was The Polaroid Man's ability or job that made him desirable to the Group?

Interesting question. In the short time we got to know him, it was hard to tell if he was prophetic or psychotic. Or both in that order! He seemed to know the ending of the story before it happened.

:rock2:

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